News Release

BAXTER PLEDGES TO HELP HOSPITALS REDUCE WASTE THROUGH LANDMARK ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE

Baxter Becomes First Medical Supplier to Join the "Hospitals for a Healthy Environment" Program

DEERFIELD, Ill. and WASHINGTON, D.C., September 24, 2002 -- Baxter Healthcare Corp. has committed to be a "Champion for Change" in the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) program, a landmark initiative to improve environmental performance in health care. Baxter, the first medical supplier to join the initiative, has been a long-time industry leader in sustainable development.

H2E is a joint effort by the American Hospital Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Nurses Association and Health Care Without Harm to reduce the environmental impact of health care. H2E is committed to virtually eliminating mercury-containing waste from the health care waste stream by the year 2005, reducing the total volume of waste generated by 33 percent by 2005, and 50 percent by 2010, and minimizing the production of persistent bioaccumulative toxics in health care. The H2E Champions for Change program recognizes organizations that promote H2E within health care.

"For more than a decade we've been working hard to lessen the environmental impact of our products," said a William R. Blackburn, vice president and chief counsel of Corporate Environment, Health and Safety for Baxter. "Through our work with collaborative organizations like Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, we hope to find better ways to serve our customers, help the environment, and, in the process, become a more successful company."

Over the past ten years Baxter has worked to significantly reduce its energy use, packaging and production waste. For example, the company has reduced its packaging by 13 percent since 1995 and its air toxic emissions by 99 percent since 1988. As a "Champion for Change" for H2E, Baxter will continue to advance its efforts to work with hospitals to minimize environmental impacts. Some current initiatives the company has underway include:

• Partnering with customers to identify and address the potential environmental impacts of new products during the development stage.
  
  
• Researching innovative ways raw material suppliers and hospitals can reduce and recycle medical product waste.

"We're trying to move an entire field to be more environmentally responsible and sustainable," said Laura Brannen, H2E Co-Director. "That's a monumental task, but we hope that in encouraging other health care companies to participate in the H2E program with manufacturing leaders such as Baxter, we can meet our industry-wide goals of significant waste and toxicity reduction. It can only happen if we work collaboratively on innovative programs to make real changes in pollution prevention in health care."

H2E recently launched a new website with tools for hospitals, including a comprehensive list of mercury reduction resources and step-by-step approaches to minimizing waste. A new H2E listserv gives health care professionals a forum to share technical information and practical strategies for pollution prevention. For more information, visit www.h2e-online.org.

Baxter Healthcare Corporation is the principal domestic operating subsidiary of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX), a global health care company that, through its subsidiaries, provides critical therapies for people with life-threatening conditions. Baxter's bioscience, medication delivery and renal products and services are used to treat patients with some of the most challenging medical conditions, including cancer, hemophilia, immune deficiencies, infectious diseases, kidney disease and trauma. For more information on the company's commitment to sustainability, please see www.baxter.com/sustainability/.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

	Media Contacts: Cecilia DeLoach, Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, 202-234-0091, ext. 13 Tanya Tyska, Baxter Healthcare Corp., 847-948-3256 Amy Lee, American Hospital Association, 202-626-2284